If you’re reading this, the likelihood is that you know the signs that indicate when burnout is knocking at your door.
You’ve probably been living and working at a high pace for some time and you’re starting to feel the effects.
Maybe you’re tired, yet struggling to sleep. Perhaps you have brain fog and you’re procrastinating more. For you, it might be starting with a cold, or getting regular headaches or migraines that signals burnout is around the corner if you don’t take slow down.
But what about the lead up to this point?
How aware are you of your triggers that set you off on that path?
And what about the habits that make it inevitable that you’ll end up in this place again?
The place where you feel drained and depleted, you beat yourself up for everything you haven’t done, and despite knowing there is a mountain of tasks still to do, you just can’t summon the energy or the motivation to do them.
You’re desperate for a break, but feel unable to take one.
What’s more, you even know that things improve when you do take some time out to look after your own needs. When you come back to work after even just a short period of switching off, you are on fire!
- You get things done waaaayy faster
- The ideas that drop in are incredible
- Your motivation and energy skyrocket
- And you handle any problems that crop up calmly and rationally instead of becoming frustrated, or panicked.
So you promise yourself that you’ll start doing things for yourself more regularly. You won’t let work take over this time.
And you start off well.
You smash your morning routine before work, take a break for lunch and even go for a walk in the evening.
You feel great for it!
But soon every time you plan to go for a run, get to the yoga class or do some journaling, something crops up that prevents it from happening.
You end up spending more and more hours working and even when you do come away from it, you struggle to switch off.
And so here you are. Back in this place again. Flirting with burnout.
So what are you going to do different this time?
Try harder? Be better?
I know that’s worked well for you in the past, but unfortunately, that just doesn’t work when it comes to your wellbeing.
Adding extra pressure at this point will only be counterproductive in the long run.
Instead you have to be a bit more strategic in your approach.
- Uncovering the things that keep leading you here and removing them.
- Identifying your habits and patterns that feed the cycle and prevent you from taking that time for yourself.
- And scrambling the subconscious beliefs and programming that keep you stuck in the identity of someone that always has to be doing more and trying harder in order to feel like you’re doing enough.
So where do you start with all that?
My advice would be to work backwards from the point you’re currently at to uncover your habits.
What was it that led you to move away from being cool, calm and collected and into feeling overwhelmed by all you have to do?
Did you overschedule your diary, thinking you’d get through more than you did?
Perhaps it was because you felt obliged to say “Yes”, and help out again, despite knowing you’ve got your own stuff to do. You just really struggle to say “No” to people!
Or maybe it was because you hadn’t accounted for all the extra reading you needed to do to make sure you knew your stuff for that presentation.
Whatever the habit is, the next step is to dive a bit deeper.
What’s are the feelings that drives this habit?
There will always be one there, you just need to explore what it is for you.
We take action because of the way we feel.
Sometimes it might be because you are excited or passionate about something. But other times it’s more about avoiding feeling guilty for letting someone down, ashamed that you aren’t doing as well as your peers, or worried that you will look stupid if you don’t know the answer.
It can also be really helpful to identify how and when the positive motivating factors turn into:
- Feeling unable to say “No”
- Doing more than you need to
- Or putting excessive and unnecessary pressure on yourself to ‘be better’ because you don’t feel good enough as you are.
If you’re struggling to tackle this or find the answers by yourself, please feel free to reach out.
Uncovering and eliminating these unhelpful factors, which ultimately end in repeated cycles of boom and bust, is exactly what I do with my clients. When we remove the unhelpful feelings, beliefs and drivers that build up throughout your life, it stops the inner turmoil and worry, allowing you to feel calm, clear-headed and in control instead.
But if you’re not quite ready for 121 coaching yet, you might want to check out the Guilt-Free Programme as an alternative.
It’s my group membership that is centred around these cycles of boom and bust; what causes, and perpetuates them.
Each month I run 2 live online workshops that break this down and tackle it bit by bit. But it’s not just me talking at you for the whole time.
This is time for you to get the clarity and perspective you need so you know how you can move forward with passion and purpose instead of fatigue and doubt.
To help you do this, you’ll receive a workbook, along with any support you may need during the session, so you can identify where you are at, where you want to be and what you need to do to get there. As a result, you’ll know how you can keep your energy, motivation, focus and flow exactly where you want it to be.
Why not come along for a free trial workshop to see what all the fuss is about. That’s exactly what Kayley did recently and here’s what she had to say…
“Thank you so much for such a great session. It was a perfectly timed (and much needed!) ‘Friday reset’ which has left me feeling like I’ve cleared away all the rubbish that’s been slowing me down and holding me back after an overwhelming few weeks with work and personal stuff.”
Book your Guilt-Free trial here. And make sure you use the code TRYITOUT at the checkout to bag a free spot!
